Jags Italian cookery thread

I will add my recipes to this thread.
However, I prefer to learn from Jags who lives there.
I will say that using fresh pasta makes a big difference to taste.

 

Fresh pasta

 

Carbonara recipe.

Easy, fast, greasy. As a rule, consider one egg yolk for portion, minimum.

Eggs are raw so choose safe ones. Consensus is that salmonella poisoning is not a fun thing.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti (the longer the cooking time, the better usually), let's say 300 g
• Bacon, smoked. Or not smoked, you choose). The original recipe commands the use of "guanciale", pork fat from the cheek. I find it to be most of the times too greasy and not very sapid. But if you want to go for the classic, nothing wrong with that IMHO.
• Eggs, 3 yolks. You can reuse the egg whites for something else, in the carbonara thay will only make it slimy.
• Parmigiano cheese, lots of it. Start with a good block in your hands.
  Optional: Pecorino cheese in addition to parmigiano in a 1/1 ratio, go for something middle-aged hard enough to be grated easily like Pecorino di Pienza Media stagionatura.
• Olive oil "extra virgin", just oil from the first cold squeezing of olives. As needed.
  
• Black pepper, freshly ground.

I also add some chili peppers in the oil while frying the bacon, but that's just me. I'm a chili pepper freak.

Preparation:

In a bowl large enough to contain your spaghetti, put the egg yolks.


then add the grated cheese(s), here I only have parmigiano because, lockdown :\



then mix the yolks with cheese and ground black pepper, don't be afraid of getting a somewhat solid mixture




cut your bacon, smoked or not, in the shape you like the most but don't cut it too small.



Time to start cooking your pasta, (in salted water) if you didn't yet



Now you fry your bacon in a small pan, this is one of the few thing that can go really wrong if you overcook or burn the bacon. Watch it !



As soon as pasta is cooked, drain spaghetti but quickly so they retain a good amount of moisture.
Other recipes need copious amount of starchy water, not this one. Dump your spaghetti into the bowl with eggs and the rest, quickly add on top the fried bacon with all the oil.
Mix it all together in a hurry ! don't let your spaghetti cook the raw yolks.




Finally grind some more black pepper on top of your carbonara. Done !




My advice is to cook and eat it right away while still steaming, avoiding any attempts to preserve it.

Buon Appetito !

 

I loooove carbonara!!

 

Next recipe to come: Castagnaccio. A dessert right from Middle Ages. No sugar needed.

 

Hurry up, I'm starving!

 

Oh, fantastic Jags.
And with photos.
I am going to love this thread.
As I do love Italian food.

 

As soon as I can find some pine nuts, I'll be glad to post it

 

Wow... someone who actually knows how to make carbonara. No peas or bechamel to be found in this thread.

 

I’m hungry now

 

I am looking forward to more.

 

I cannot get all the ingredients, so no pictures but only a lengthy recipe for now.

This dessert is fairly old: Castagnaccio, (castagna is chestnut). It is around in various forms since at least 500 years. It is a Tuscan fall/winter cake, No yeast: It won't rise at all. It is a traditional across northern and central Italy.



Chestnuts , fruits very high in starch, have been a staple food for millennia in centre and north Italy. I love chestnuts and chestnut mountain woods, except when I step on their thorny shells. But let's not digress. Chestnuts are eaten boiled, or dried. When dried they can be ground into flour and that's how we start. Chestnut flour is light brown in colour and often contains a bit of impurities in the form of small hard bits of chestnut shells: to get rid of them and avoid clumping while adding water a fine sieve is needed.
This is the recipe for a basic, traditional and rather small Castagnaccio. Castagnaccio is usually kind of thin, 1-2 cm thick, tops, and prepared in a full size oven tray but since you probably don't want to make so much of it the quantities are for a small one.
It is an acceptable dessert for the diabetic, in its original Renaissance Tuscan form there is no sugar added, only raisins.



Ingredients:

• chestnut flour, 300 g.
• raisins, 40 g.
• pine nuts, 30 g.
• extra virgin premium olive oil, a few spoons
• rosemary needles, a small handful
• water, 350 ml.
• salt, a pinch

Optional Ingredients:

• ground black pepper (a pinch)
• nutmeg
• ground cinnamon
• powdered sugar
• orange peel
• crushed nuts
• Rum or Grappa (or other liqueurs-distillates)

Essential Tools:

• a wide bowl
• non metallic spoon (wood is best)
• a thick bottomed pan
• a fine sieve
• oven
• a small oven tray (round, about 30 cm in diameter is good for this. A baking pan with detachable bottom is very handy)

First thing, take your raisins and wash them, then put them to soak into a cup with good water. Alternatively you may decide to go beyond tradition and soak them in liqueur. I personally suggest Rhum Agricole or Grappa.

Waiting for the raisins to get soft, you put all the pine nuts in a small pan with a thick bottom (no oil added, only a scorching pan) and toast them. This is crucial , while doing this you don't want any distractions: 20 seconds too many are enough to destroy the entire batch and pine nuts are expensive. With a spoon mix and turn them almost non stop because they burn easily. When you start smelling a delicious nut odour and many of them begin showing tiny burnt speckles It is time to remove them from the pan and into a saucer. Don't just turn off the heat, the hot pan will burn them.

While giving the raisins extra time to soak it is high time to wash your rosemary and gather all of its leaves, cleaned from any stem wood. Now keep one of two pinches intact, you will use them for decoration and roughly mince the rest with a large kitchen knife or mezzaluna . You may want to set apart some pine nuts and raisins for the same reason if you want a more attractive preparation.

When the raisins have absorbed the water/liqueur , rinse and squeeze them.

Turn on the oven and set the temperature to 180-200 C°.

Now you need your large bowl, sift all the chestnut flour into it and throw away the collected impurities. You can use a wooden spoon to scratch the flour through the fine sieve. Use one of decent size or this step is going to be tedious.

At this point start mixing the flour with water, use the wooden spoon. Add water slowly trying to make few or no clumps, when you have added about half of the water pour in a few spoons of olive oil, roughly 4 of them more or less, the salt and spices, and then continue adding the rest of the water, make sure that the mix is not too soft nor too thick, it must be soft enough to be poured into the baking pan with the help of the spoon, feel free to use your hands to collect what is left on the sides of the bowl. Don't make a watery compound, in such case just add a bit more chestnut flour. Throw in the soaked and squeezed raisins and the minced pine needles. Mix it all up.

Take your oven pan / tray and if you don't want any trouble later, line it with oven paper. Wetting the tray a bit will help. With a kitchen brush (or your fingers) oil the pan (or the paper) with a bit of olive oil. Pour in the mix; a thickness of 1-2 cm is desired (thicker, it is traditionally deemed to be an inferior product). Over the table, gently shift and shake the pan to make the surface kinda even, if needed. Heat will do the rest. Sprinkle the rest of the needles (the whole ones set apart before) for decoration, and some extra raisins and pine nuts if you want, and add a few drops of olive oil (yes, again) onto the surface. As soon as the oven has reached the desired heat, shove the tray in, middle height. I use a ventilated electric oven, baking is tricky and ovens do differ so the baking time is approximative, say 20-30 minutes. Watch the surface: when it starts making tiny cracks, it is ready ! Turn the heat off, open the oven a bit and allow it to cool a bit. Later remove the tray and get the cake out to a serving dish.

Castagnaccio is served traditionally along or topped with with fresh ricotta, but today it is more often covered with a thin veil of icing sugar (facultative). People likes it with sweet whipped cream too. Make your own, fresh ! Don't add common sugar, use powered, vanilla flavoured powder sugar instead.

And now, some variations: it is possible to add some finely chopped edible orange peel in place of the rosemary leaves (Good!). Some use crushed nuts along with the pine nuts or even to substitute them entirely (I don't recommend that, it taints the flavour if You ask me). A bit of cinnamon will be welcome, same thing for adding ground nutmeg. Again, my taste. Some even add some cocoa powder - never tried, I'd say that is going a bit too far. Cooking is open to variations though so You be the judge.


This picture gives you an idea of the desired result, thickness and colour are just right, and has been garnished heavily :

 

Ooh Thank-you Jags. xxx

Chestnut flour is available on eBay.

 

On Amazon too. It is quite expensive though, here in stores it sells at 5-7 € for a 500 g. bag , on US Amazon they ask for a whooping $ 22 / lb.

 

£3.99
Free postage

• Get it by Mon, 6 Apr - Tue, 7 Apr from Leicester, United Kingdom

eBay

 

Silvesto Trompette (former head chef at the London Savoy Grill) told me that the secret of successful cooking is being able to read a clock backwards, so that everything is finished at the same time.

While Gordon Ramsay suggested 'Chucking it into a pan and swearing at it'. Swearing at the waitresses and everyone else in sight was optional.

 

It is a sound piece of advice. I agree with that. Oh, having helping hands while being at that is a huge advantage.

 

I look forward to your next recipe Jags.
When you have time. X

 

What about Pesto alla Genovese sauce ? I go crazy after that. And now that I'm thinking about it, it's high time for me to sow the main ingredient, basil. Because it takes really a lot of freshly picked basil, that's why it is an emerald green pasta sauce. The preserved pesto sauce one can buy in stores isn't an inferior product, it is just plain yucky, off-putting dark green and bitter tasting. It is a summer dish. My version is highly unorthodox but lightning fast to make - if you don't take into account having to plant and grow the basil
But I emphasize "fresh" and "espresso" in cookery. So the core of the recipe is having basil plants.
Basil is good for an endless list of other recipes, too.



So let's assume that you have your nice basil plants full of leaves. Harvest about 100-120 fresh leaves, the newest ones are the best.
Then you will need pine nuts, a couple of handfuls, and the cheese, again Parmigiano DOP and Pecorino cheese, middle to long aged. Don't use a pecorino too salty and hard like pecorino romano, look for one more buttery and of mild flavour like Sardinian, or Pecorino Nero di Pienza, or Re Nero.
Traditionally the recipe asks for a ratio 3/4 - 1/4 but I prefer half and half. Pecorino is delicious.
Olive oil extravergine, ubiquitous in Italian cooking, the quality of the oil is crucial. Salt, pepper, and if you like sharp flavours, throw in some cayenne peppers. This is a HUGE violation of the original Genoese recipe that I make on purpose because the feedback I get from those who taste it is overwhelmingly positive.
Finally, you need several cloves of garlic. My version uses much more garlic than the original, you can cut on it and just use one clove if you don't like it too much but don't make pesto entirely without garlic, this is unacceptable for the tradition - and for me . Never talk to the Genoese about garlic-less Pesto or they will chase you with torches and pitchforks.

The traditional recipe demands the use of a stone kitchen mortar with a wooden pestle, I say: don't bother. Use a mixer/blender. I have the mortar, tried it, lots of hard work and an inferior result in the end.

Preparation: wash the leaves and put them on the table between clean white canvases to absorb all the water. You want them dry, not dripping wet. Grate all the cheeses, a good amount is needed, let's say one full cup of the two cheeses, I always play by ear doing this and grate more than needed of both (if you have leftovers no biggie... you can use them for something else), don't have a particular measure to tell you. A blender can be tricky to use because the leaves can lump together and cause trouble, so unless the leaves you use are super tiny, on a wooden cutting board chop them coarsely, just summarily with a large, wide kitchen knife or mezzaluna. While being at that, chop more finely the 3-5 garlic cloves as well then dump the leaves in your blender with the garlic and pour in some olive oil, not too much because you don't want to end up with a liquid sauce. Throw in the peppers as well, salt and black ground pepper (another violation!). Now start blending everything summarily, and then add the pine nuts. Blend them in too. it is now the moment of the grated cheeses , add it progressively watching the texture of the sauce. You will probably need to add some more oil, do it according to need. Keep on blending until you get a sauce that is more smooth or coarse according to your preference. But the result must be somewhat thick. Look at the picture above to see how much thick, that's just perfect.
That's all. The deliciousness of the product won't last longer than a few hours, then the garlic will begin to spoil the flavour and colour will turn dark. If you absolutely have to keep it (for max 2 days), put it in a jar and top with olive oil.

What kind of pasta ? The traditional recipe asks for "Trenette", Genoan/Ligurian for Linguine , they are flat ribbon-like spaghetti basically.

i find that spaghetti quadrati (square-section spaghetti) are even better, if you can find them. But you may ignore this and even use regular spaghetti if linguine are hard to find. Again, the longest the suggested cooking time, the best the quality of pasta. Some of the best brands require even 14 minutes or more.

​

I am probably overzealous, but I want to remember to everyone two things, just in case:

1. all kinds of pasta must be cooked in abundant SALTED water. Use rock salt, not too much of course. taste the water before cooking your pasta. Must be just salty enough to make pasta savoury.
   
2. Spaghetti, linguine, trenette, bucatini, all types of long pasta are NEVER to be broken. Breaking pasta is enough reason to have Your "Italian license" revoked .

What wine ? a dry white wine like Verdicchio di Jesi, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Vermentino, or Bianco di Portofino all served chilled, because as said before this is a dish for the summer. Hot weather, a steaming dish of linguine al pesto and a bottle of cool white will waste you to a half drunk bliss

It has to be said that the original Genoan Recipe , "Trenette cu Pestu" includes in the dish potates and french beans . Bollocks, if you ask me. They will only dilute the flavour and I'm an hedonist. But if you want, just cut the potatoes and the beans in bits and cook them in salted water, when half cooked add the pasta and finish cooking the whole thing. Then rinse it and add the pesto sauce. Sprinkle with more cheese. This is the result:


To create an atmosphere I want to add this beautiful song from world famous Genoese song author and musician Fabrizio de Andrè, a poet, a man of peace and great humanity, sorely missed. The language is Genoese dialect, not intelligible even for most italians...translation included.

Crêuza de mä
​

Shadows of faces faces of sailors
where did you come from, where are you going ?
from a place where the moon showed herself naked
and the night pointed a knife at her throat
and to mount the donkey only God is left
The Devil is in heaven and there he built his nest
we leave the sea to dry our bones at Andrea's Inn
at the fountain of the doves, in the stone house.

And in the stone house what guests will be there?
in Andrea's house, that's no Sailor
people of Lugano, faces of pickpockets
those who prefer the wing of the bass (!)
family girls, smelling nice
that you can look at without a condom.

And what will he give to these empty bellies
things to drink, things to eat
fried small fishes, white Portofino wine
lamb brains cooked in the same wine
lasagne to be cut to four sauces
pie of sweet and sour "rabbit of tiles"*.

And we will sail in the boat of wine into the rocks
emigrants of laughter with nails in our eyes
until the morning will grow so you can pick it
brother of carnations and of maidens
master of the rope rotten with water and salt
that binds us and drags us into a crêuza de mä **.

​

* "rabbit of tiles" is nothing else that a witty way to say cat,seriously. He's talking about a kitten-based main course. things of the past.
** The "Crêuza de mä" (sea alley) is in Genoese dialect an alley that runs between two stone walls delimiting properties​

 

Oh, Jags what a wonderful post. xxxx